Donegal Tweed on NPR

A couple of days ago there was a short piece on NPR about the handweaving studio in Kilcar, Ireland, Studio Donegal Spinners and Handweavers. It was an interview with the owner about the thriving business they are doing making and selling handwoven Irish tweed accessories and garments. They sell yarn on their site too.

I visited Studio Donegal 20 years ago on my honeymoon. For 10 days we drove around Ireland drinking Guinness, listening to music and hunting yarn.  The business wasn't as big as it is now and the weaving and yarn were in separate shops. It was small enough that I got a quick tour of the mill and spent some time with the woman who cooked up the gorgeous tweedy colors on handcards. They had mill ends in their shop and I got into big trouble. Andy and I had to buy a dufflebag to get all of my yarn home. I knit few things out of that yarn and still have some. The tape holding the labels on may have yellowed over time, but the yarn is still beautiful. This is stash I will never get rid of, the memories win over any space considerations. Plus, tweed yarn never goes out of style!

The Kitchen! Lots of Pictures!

The before kitchen

The kitchen is done and we love it! We're trying to figure out where to put everything and marveling at all of the light and counter space. Andy and I now realize just how exhausting having construction going on in your house can be - the kids are tired and cranky, we are tired and cranky. We're trying to rest and reset and cook all of the things.

Ta- da!

It took us and our beloved contractor Eric a little more than a month from start to finish and we kept it all within $100 of our budget.

Of course, now I want to buy all new things for the kitchen and remodel the entire house. As part of the remodel we put wooden floors in the front room, and now we're contemplating resetting that room in a different way. We are in no hurry, there are a ton of books.

We have our dishes and pots in big drawers now. We keep moving out glasses to different cabinets, and we're hauling all of our kitchen stuff out of the basement as we need it. We have a ginormous sink - Jennie the Potter mug for scale.

The new kitchen hasn't magically stopped our family from piling on the counters and now there are so many more of them. I already have the bad habit of working on one of the counters with my computer and all of my piles. I can cook and work at the same time! 

The whole process went really smoothly (I only cried twice!), we didn't have too many surprises and like everyone told us, it's worth it!

Do I Still Spin?

I've been waiting for someone to ask me me if I still spin; if I'm going to write about spinning again on this blog. The answer is YES!

Like everyone in the world I've been busy, plus haven't planned well for the spinning part of the blog. The spinning I've been doing has been for magazines, things I can't show yet. But check out this curly bobbin of fun - it's only partially secret becasue it's not done yet.

The book is getting it's last goings over. I just sent in 5 pages of notes after seeing the second pages. If you're going to be at Yarn Fest, I'll have my book pages there and you can take a peek.

I am so excited for everyone to see it. It seems like it took forever. My release date is August, this August. Yay!

The kitchen will be done tomorrow! Look at the cabinets, the color! I do love it and plan on cooking all weekend. Along with the kitchen we had our living room floors done, transformed from 1970's brown pile to oak.

We have a lot of thinking about rearranging the house to do. My husband jokes about having no furniture and just sitting in a lawn chair and gazing lovingly at the kitchen and the living room.

I'm considering an office in our basement, which is currently unfinished, dry, but has no big windows. I wouldn't be doing a fancy finish on the basement. Do any of you work in a basement home office?

If you need me, I'll be cooking in my new kitchen!

Jenny Beavan, My Hero

Dan MacMedan/WireImage; Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Before the Oscars get too far behind us I want to send up a cheer for Jenny Beavan, who won the Oscar for Best Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road. I have been a fan since Maurice and most Merchant-Ivory films, for Cranford, Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility and A King's Speech. Her work has filled my costume p0rn needs since college.

She has been nominated for over 40 and won 18 international awards. Her costumes for Mad Max were breathtaking in their scope and diversity, plus they were just plain cool.

So why is everyone talking about what she wore to the Oscars? Instead of a dress and heels she chose to wear a custom made outfit in homage to Mad Max that included pants, a leather jacket and flat shoes. I'm sure the women and men squeezed into spanx and wobbly shoes wish they had the idea first. Maybe next year everyone will come in pajamas.

Is it becasue a woman, of a certain age, chose to wear what she wanted instead of scuttling around the edges trying to be invisible? Rock on Jenny. Thank you for doing and wearing exactly what you want and not caving to bullshit-Hollywood.

I want to celebrate the creativity and the damn hard work it takes to have a career that runs from corset to catalytic converter. Thank you Jenny for giving us so many beautiful things to watch again and again. Congratulations on your win!

Stitching and Kitchen Updates

I am still doing a little stitching. I carry a small square in my planner so I always have it at hand. I intended to use these practice squares as breaks from work, but I just haven't made it a habit yet.

I finished a fly stitch square and the next will be chain stitch. I sketch shapes and lines in pencil, just for guides. Most of the time I work a plain version of the stitch, but with chain stitch I want to learn some different styles, knotted, open, and 2-color. My goal with this next practice square is to stitch more often. Less shopping for ink, more stitching on work breaks.

What's going on with the kitchen? We have new drywall and lots of lighting. Next are floors and cabinets. We're trying to roll with it all. The flooring is living in our family room- it makes a convenient footstool and stage. We are getting carry-out more than I wanted even though I am in love with my fancy pressure cooker/slower cooker. Just a few more weeks.......

Madrona - It Was Wonderful

It's been more than a week since I got back from the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat and I still have all of the warm fuzzies.

It was my first time teaching there and it felt like home. The students were amazing, smart and relaxed. Even on Sunday, after three days of classes, they were quieter, but still crazy sharp. My students spun every idea (and fiber) I handed to them, they asked great questions and had their own yarn and projects to show and discuss.

I was so engrossed in teaching and talking that I forgot to take pictures in my classes. I also forgot to make time for much shopping.  Madrona is so much about conversations and sharing ideas - with students, with other teachers, in the elevator, in a line or at the marketplace or the banquet. I don't remember the last time I came home from a retreat so full of ideas and so grateful for our community.

I was handed three of my greatest compliments at this retreat:

• From a student: You are the least judgmental spinning teacher I've ever had.
• From Suzanne, who runs Madrona: Would you like to come back next year?
• From a fellow spinning teacher: The work you do is important.

When I teach at big events like this I still feel like the kid. I've been in the fiber arts for 20+ years, but in comparison to most other fiber teachers I haven't been teaching long. I'm the new kid that often feels like I don't know enough, because I still have so much to learn!

At Madrona, for the first time, I figuratively and literally sat at the grown-up table and I felt like I belonged there. It was wonderful.

L to R: Janine Bajus, Greg Cotton, Carson Demers, Mary Scott Huff, Beth Brown-Reinsel, Debbi Stone, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Amy Herzog and Judith MacKenzie

Today the Hammer Swings

In about a half an hour Eric will show up with his crew and demolish our old kitchen. Goodbye cramped and ugly 1970s and hello counter space with light!

Here's a half-a-kitchen before panorama so you can have an idea of the yuck.

How will we eat?  We have a small kitchen set up in our living room and cooking burners set up in the basement. Of course, we will be going out more than usual, too.

Another blip in my sanity that didn't occur to me until late in the game is my work space. That upper left corner, along with our dining room table, used to be my office. For the duration I'm sharing space with Andy and working at the library.

It's going to be a bumpy month or so, any tips or tricks you have to share would be greatly appreciated.

I can't wait for the new space. We're already planning a celebratory smoked brisket party!

Handspun Weaving and Embroidery

My spinning and weaving blog series for Schacht with Beth came to an end last Friday, with the reveal of our finished projects. I am more than a little smitten with mine. I can't say that it came out exactly like I had planned because in my mind's eye my finished piece was always a little vague.

The woven fabric is silky and light, in a different way than BFL is when I spin and knit it. The colors of the variegated yarn came together wonderfully, but again altogether differently than knitted fabric.

The stitching was a surprise too. I was worried that the yarn I wove with would be too big, but that boldness works. I want to keep stitching all over this wrap.

Like I say in the blog post there will be more spun and woven wraps. This project pushed just enough of my curiosity buttons without being scary and overwhelming. It makes me want to figure out the why and how of the differences in woven and knitted fabric.

Can we have a few more hours in the day please?